Live Your Legend Blog Challenge #2 – What Makes You Angry About the World?

Our culture of rampant, unchecked consumption is what makes me angry about this world!

It may be mostly an American problem – or a “first world problem”, though there’s certainly trickle-down effects on the rest of the world (anyone want our old electronics?).

If you close your eyes and listen, you’ll hear the buzz of millions of people working hard to earn more money so they can buy more things. It’s what we are taught from our youngest days by commercials on TV, billboards by the road, and our friends at school. You always need something new. A new toy, or a new dress. New is what you want. Not a hand-me-down, not homemade with love. New. From the store.

Before long that new thing loses it’s appeal. The colors fade. A piece breaks off. The whole thing stops working as it’s supposed to. That new dress is suddenly so last season. Thanks to planned obsolescence, that little gadget that broke 3 months after you bought it is worth nothing now. Throw it in the trash and buy yourself a new gadget. Shove your old clothes in a donation box and buy yourself something new. That’s how things work in this culture.

It’s not just stuff either. It’s everything. We want more food, more entertainment, more adventure, more more more! Instead of taking stock of what we have and enjoying it, society tells us we can never have enough and must constantly be wanting more.

Not only is the attitude of consumerism hurting us on a social and emotional level, but the environmental impact is devastating. I’m too lazy to get into the statistics now, but just think about it. Greenhouse gasses. Animal waste. Trash. Oh so much TRASH.

Here’s a couple of articles if you’re looking to learn more. Of course you could also just google things, like I do.

So yes, all that makes me angry, though my anger is often overcome by lethargy. I’m an ideas person, but when it comes to driving those ideas toward implementation – especially ideas that require buy-in by the majority of the world’s population, I don’t even know where to begin. Well, I begin with myself…

I’d say the biggest way to fight against our consumerist society is to not be a part of it as much as possible. I’ve written about my love affair with minimalism. I think the main thing that excites me about it is that there are so many other people out there who are doing the same thing! It’s always good to know you’re not the only person passionate about something.

The second big thing I’d advocate for is switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet. Meat production is one of the most detrimental industries to the environment. Not only do those animals product a crap-ton of waste, but consider how much land, water and energy is used to produce their food. Plus, call me woo-woo, but I strongly believe that one day our society will look back in horror at the idea that we once ate other living creatures.

With all that being said, don’t get me wrong. I am not living in a shanty in the woods, growing my own food and fashioning clothes from plant fibers. I have a full-time job, to which I am expected to dress professionally and not in hemp-fiber dresses. I have a car that I continue to make car payments on (and it runs on gasoline, yes). I have to control myself on Amazon. I occasionally indulge in a nice, thick, chocolate shake, even though in the back of my mind I’m like those cows are pooping us to extinction! and I’m sorry mommy cow that we are only using you for your milk.

So there you have it. I am passionate about the environment, and about people, and I loathe rampant, unchecked consumption of our world’s resources. We’ve got to find a better way!

I can remember when if something broke, you took it to a repairman to fix (TV’s, toasters, radios, etc.).Now, it’s too much of a “bother” or cheaper to buy a new one. So, off to the landfill it goes. I wouldn’t even know where to find a repairman nowadays. We bought a flat screen TV for the living room to replace the “old” one with a picture tube. No one will take the old one. Works fine. Even Goodwill or Red Cross won’t take it. We can’t even find a place to recycle it. It’ll be off to the landfill soon. Good read, thanks.

I’m trying to recall if I ever set foot in a repair shop of any kind, other than for a car. I really don’t think I have!

I read somewhere that if you think back to your very first toothbrush (if you can remember it), and think about all the toothbrushes you’ve had since… they are all still out there somewhere – just in a landfill. Isn’t that a mindblowing thought?